


i always feel like somebody's watching me

by tuberc-leo-fics (lourthor)



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Light Angst, M/M, Stalking, kind of but not really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-27
Updated: 2019-09-27
Packaged: 2020-10-29 13:50:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20797646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lourthor/pseuds/tuberc-leo-fics
Summary: “Hi Taeil!” the man said, brushing his hair to the side as his eyes focused on Taeil’s. “You look a lot better than you did the last time I saw you.” Taeil just stared at him, uncomprehending. He had never seen this man before in his life.In which Taeil is perpetually confused by Jungwoo, the strange man who is seemingly stalking him and Yuta is simultaneously the worst and best friend ever.





	i always feel like somebody's watching me

Taeil was on hour four of his morning shift at The Beanery when he first saw him. Normally, Taeil couldn’t care less who wanted coffee and tended to forget the faces of customers as soon as they finished paying, but something about the way the man shook his hair from the rain made it seem like life was moving in slow motion, and he hated it.

“Can I help you?” Taeil asked, voice monotone in an attempt to distance himself from any thoughts not related to his job at the moment. The man smiled brightly at him, causing Taeil to wonder how anyone could actually be happy to be awake and functioning at 8:30 in the morning.

“Hi Taeil!” the man said, brushing his hair to the side as his eyes focused on Taeil’s. “You look a lot better than you did the last time I saw you.”

The man laughed loudly, slapping a hand on the counter, but Taeil just stared at him, uncomprehending. He had never seen this man before in his life.

He must have noticed something about the way Taeil was looking at him, because he straightened his face into a more neutral expression before continuing.

“Sorry, you probably want to know what I’m drinking. I just didn’t expect to run into you here,” the stranger said. “I’ll have a large banana blueberry smoothie with almond milk.” His smile stayed on his face while Taeil punched in the order on his register.

“Can I get a name for the order?” Taeil asked, holding a hand out for payment. The man frowned.

“I guess it’s company policy to ask that question even if you know your customers, right?”

Taeil, still extremely confused as to how this man knew him and just wanting to get out of the situation, nodded. “Yeah, sorry. Company policy.”

“Jungwoo,” the man, Jungwoo, said brightly. “I’ll see you round, Taeil!”

“Bye,” Taeil said, a little late, as he waved to the man. Jungwoo, he told himself.

He nervously brushed imaginary crumbs form his apron, belatedly noticing that he had forgotten to put his name tag on that morning. Jungwoo, apparently, actually knew him.

\-- 

“What would you think if someone you didn’t know came up to you and started talking to you, actually knew your name, but you have no recollection of actually meeting them?” Taeil asked his best friend as soon as he sat down next to him on the bench.

“I would assume that I slept with them,” Yuta answered, mouth full with some kind of sandwich. “I tend to forget the names of my one night stands.”

It had become tradition to meet for lunch during the week when they both got their jobs, the park a couple blocks from both of their places of work. Yuta and Taeil met their first year of university, sitting next to each other in Accounting 101. Taeil was there because his parents were forcing him to become an accountant in order to have a stable career, while Yuta just liked numbers. After graduating, Yuta got a job in the field, and Taeil rebelled by decidedly not even looking for an accountant job, instead working at the coffee shop in the morning and a live jazz bar at night.

“Yeah, but like, I haven’t slept with anyone for about 9 months, and who would even remember the name of someone for that long?” Taeil asked.

Yuta put his sandwich down with a huge sigh. “I think the real problem here is that you haven’t slept with someone in 9 months. That just tells me we need to go out more.”

“But seriously, I was really freaked out,” Taeil responded, pointedly ignoring his friend’s quip. “The first thing he said to me was that I looked better than I had the last time we met.”

Yuta, the traitor, just started laughing. “Oh boy, they probably remember you because you were a mess. You probably charmed him with your stupid jokes.”

“Come on, Yuta,” Taeil said, pushing his arm hard. “Be a better friend.”

“Dude, I’m like, your only friend,” Yuta said, but he gentled his response a little, noticing the slight panic in his friend’s eyes. “Just, don’t worry too much about it? You can figure it out if you ever run into each other again.”

Taeil was skeptical, but just moved on to the next subject before they both had to return to work.

\-- 

The next time they ran into each other, Taeil was caught by surprise because even though he had been mentally preparing himself to see the man at The Beanery again, he was not prepared to run into him while shopping for groceries.

It was Taeil who saw him first, looking intently at the different kinds of butter available in the cold section of the grocery. Not intending to confront him that day, Taeil quickly walked past him.

“Taeil?” he heard Jungwoo say from behind him. Taeil thought for a few seconds if he should ignore him and keep walking, but decided he wasn’t that much of a douchebag.

“Hi Jungwoo,” Taeil responded as he turned around. Jungwoo gave a delighted smile as he walked closer to Taeil.

“You remember my name today?” he asked, teasing. Taeil just gave a shaky smile in response.

“Oh!” Jungwoo exclaimed, hand coming up to his head. “I forgot to ask last week when I ran into you, how is Pumpkin?”

“What?” Taeil asked, heart clenching in panic.

Jungwoo frowned. “Your dog’s name _is_ Pumpkin, right? He’s an orange and white corgi.”

Taeil took a half step back, suddenly very afraid of what the stranger knew about him and his life. When he meets new people, he has a difficult time opening up to them, and so the fact that someone he didn’t know knew about his dog, was concerning.

“Haha,” Taeil said, laugh very clearly fake, “yeah, my dog’s name is Pumpkin.”

Jungwoo was opening his mouth again, clearly about to continue the conversation, so Taeil interrupted. “Sorry, Jungwoo, but I’m kind of in a hurry. I have to go.” He was walking away before he even finished talking.

“Okay!” Jungwoo called after him. “See you around!”

Taeil didn’t even remember paying for his groceries, adrenaline racing through his veins from the panic he was experiencing.

\-- 

“And he knew the breed of my dog!” Taeil said from his place on Yuta’s couch, arm thrown over his eyes. “Like, I understand if I had mentioned my dog’s name, but actually talking about him and what breed he is? That doesn’t sound like me.”

“I hope you realize you are taking up the only sitting space in this room,” Yuta said from where he was standing beside the couch. “At least move your feet so I can sit too.”

Taeil complied, complaining as he sat up. “You make enough money and have a roommate, so I don’t understand why you can’t just, I don’t know, buy a chair so I can complain in peace.”

“Yeah, it’s an unnecessary expenditure considering my roommate is never here and we don’t throw parties. One couch is more than enough if you would share like any normal person.”

“I love how you’re ignoring my plight,” Taeil said, looking at his best friend. “Like, you’re not even a little concerned that this man is stalking me?”

“Look,” Yuta said, “I watch a lot of true crime shows, such as The First 48, Dateline, and Detective Conan. Most evidence shows that stalkers are someone you know, and they rarely approach you in a calm way. If they approach you, it’s most likely to confront you about their love, and confrontation is usually a last resort. You haven’t received any strange notes or gifts, have you?”

“Okay first, there are a lot of things wrong with your statement,” Taeil said. “The fact that you called Detective Conan a true crime show is only the beginning.”

Yuta rolled his eyes. “But I’m not wrong about anything else. Do you actually think you’re being stalked?”

Taeil sighed, shaking his head. “It’s just… strange. I hate not knowing things.”

Yuta smiled gently at him, reminding Taeil why they were friends. Even though they both joked about things and rarely got deep with each other, both hating to talk about those kinds of subjects, they were there for each other.

“How about this?” Yuta asked. “I’m trying to get a group of us together for a small getaway in a couple of weeks. I was thinking about renting a beach house somewhere so we can just relax.”

Taeil smiled, shoulders relaxing at the thought of a break from his hectic schedule. “Who all are you planning on inviting?”

Yuta shrugged. “The usual crew. Taeyong, Johnny, Doyoung, Ten, my roommate, Jaehyun, anyone who can make it, really.”

“That sounds…” Taeil trailed off as he got a good look at the books sitting on the coffee table, the titles catching his attention. “What are these? _Celebrations of Death: The Anthropology of Mortuary Ritual_? _Embalming: History, Theory, and Practice_? _Pathology and Microbiology for Mortuary Science_? Did you start a new hobby I didn’t know about?”

“Don’t be dumb,” Yuta said rolling his eyes. “Those are my roommate’s textbooks.”

There was a beat of silence.

“Jaehyun studies Civil Engineering.”

“Are you stupid?” Yuta asked. “Jaehyun moved out like six months ago.”

Taeil just stared, uncomprehending. Yuta barked out a laugh.

“Oh my god,” he said before hitting Taeil on the shoulder. “Do you listen to anything I tell you? He moved in with some kid named Mark who’s also in his program. You’ve met Mark!”

Taeil nodded slowly, trying to remember if he was ever told this information or not.

“So your roommate…”

“Is getting his degree in Mortuary Sciences,” Yuta finished for him. “Which still boggles my mind considering he’s such a happy, well-adjusted human being but oh well.”

Taeil looked at his phone and groaned, noticing the time. “I’ve got to go to work.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Yuta said, standing up to walk with Taeil to the door. “Think about the trip, okay?” he asked when Taeil was putting on his shoes. “You work too hard and need a break sometime like us regular human beings.”

“Give me the details and I’ll request off work,” Taeil said, waving to his friend as he walked out of the apartment.

\--

Working at the Velvet Rope was always much calmer and less stressful than his day job, which Taeil was always thankful for. Coffee shops were romanticized so much by people, but few people were actually aware that the reality was much different than the dream. Taeil’s body was constantly in motion while at The Beanery, so settling onto the tall stool on the stage of the jazz club was like a breath of fresh air.

“You seem tense today,” Donghyuck, his pianist, muttered to him when they both went over to the bar for a short break and some water. “You usually look so relaxed when singing.”

Taeil just sighed, slinging an arm around his friend’s shoulders. “Just some things going on. Nothing to worry about. How about you? Don’t think I missed that mistake during the intro to _Mood Indigo.”_

Donghyuck rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. Even I can make mistakes.”

“Not often, though,” Taeil said, taking a sip of his water as they made their way back to the stage. “Classes going okay?”

“Yeah, dad,” Donghyuck said with as much sarcasm as he could put in his voice. “Classes are going great.”

“Just checking,” Taeil said, voice fond.

Taeil and Donghyuck had been working together for around a year, Donghyuck joining the Jazz club as soon as he turned 21, and they had a pretty solid thing going on. They both worked on the same nights and had gotten pretty close to each other, talking about how their chosen paths disappointed their parents. Donghyuck’s parents encouraged his musical interests until he decided to make a career out of it, then they pulled their funding. He was still bitter about the situation.

After their next set of songs which lasted 45 minutes, the two had another small break while the saxophonist played several songs. On his breaks, Taeil usually found a dark, quiet table to sit at and enjoy the atmosphere of the bar. In that aspect, he and Donghyuck were different, as Donghyuck enjoyed bothering the bartender and socializing with the bar patrons. The advantage to that approach was that his tips were always higher, as most people he talked to would slip a couple dollars into the tip jar on his piano during their next set.

Taeil wandered for a couple minutes, making a pit stop in the bathroom before heading to the back of the bar in search of an empty table. He didn’t manage to make it very far when he spotted the person he never thought he would run into at the bar working on some papers in the dim lighting.

“What are you doing here, Jungwoo?” Taeil asked as he slid into the chair across from him.

Jungwoo looked up, startled.

“Taeil!” he said, smiling brightly when he registered who it was. “I didn’t know you worked here too! What a coincidence!”

Taeil doubted it was actually a coincidence, so just gave a small, compact smile.

“What are you doing here?” Taeil asked again, gesturing at the frankly alarming number of papers and textbooks on the table.

“Just some work for school,” Jungwoo said, making a move to cover up some of the things he was looking at. “I find it relaxing to do work while listening to music.”

“Can you even see?” Taeil asked, squinting to try and read the book titles. “It’s pretty dark in this corner.”

“It’s nice of you to worry about me,” Jungwoo said, giving Taeil a bright smile. “I can see just fine though. Up close, that is. I can’t see anything farther than a couple tables away. Must be why I didn’t see you earlier.”

Jungwoo rested his elbow on the table, placing his cheek in his hand and stared closely at Taeil, forcing him to lean back in his chair.

“Look, Jungwoo,” Taeil said, crossing his arms at his chest. “I’m going to ask you this seriously.”

“Anything, Taeil,” Jungwoo said, leaning even closer.

“Why… are you stalking me?”

Jungwoo threw his head back, barking out a sharp laugh. At the noise, some of the closer patrons turned their heads to stare, making Taeil scrunch down in his seat.

“It does seem like that, doesn’t it?” Jungwoo asked. “I think that since we met each other, we’ve just been recognizing each other when we wouldn’t have before. I’d been going to The Beanery for years before I saw you. It was like fate,” he said with a dreamy smile.

“Yeah, haha,” Taeil said, his laugh never sounding faker, “fate.”

“Or, no!” Jungwoo said loudly, slamming his hand down on the table. “What’s that phenomena called where once you learn something you see it everywhere?”

“The Baader-Meinhof phenomenon?” Taeil asked, fully aware that it was what Jungwoo was talking about.

“Yeah, that,” Jungwoo said, smiling wider at Taeil. “Meeting you was a phenomenon.”

Taeil just sat in his chair, staring at Jungwoo with nothing to say. Jungwoo continued to smile at him before he glanced past Taeil’s shoulder, his eyes squinting in a glare at something behind him. Taeil turned quickly, eager to get away from the stare and his heart sung at the sight of Donghyuck walking up to the table. When he glanced back at Jungwoo, the man was smiling again.

“Hey, Taeil, it’s time to head back,” Donghyuck said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Our set starts in a few minutes.”

Taeil stood quickly, ready to remove himself from the situation he put himself in. “Let’s go,” he said, grabbing onto Donghyuck’s arm and pulling him away.

“Bye, Jungwoo,” Donghyuck said, waving at him as they walked away.

Taeil’s grip tightened on his arm. “How do you know Jungwoo?” he hissed at his friend, face turning to him in a glare.

Donghyuck rolled his eyes. “What, you think that just because Jungwoo has had a crush on you for months all of a sudden he can’t talk to anyone else? Don’t worry, you’re still all he talks about, dude.”

“Yeah, because he’s stalking me,” Taeil said, voice low.

“Don’t be a drama queen,” Donghyuck said, pushing him to the side of the stage. “I’m glad you two have started hanging out more, because the pining was getting ridiculous.”

“I don’t know him, Donghyuck,” Taeil said, trying to keep his voice low, but this close to the saxophone, it was hard to be heard. “He just keeps showing up at my jobs, or in the store, and talking to me.”

“Then just get to know him,” Donghyuck said, throwing up his hands and not even trying to be quiet. “He’s handsome, you’re handsome. He likes you, if you give him a chance, you’ll like him. What’s the big deal?”

Taeil just let out a frustrated sigh, running a hand through his hair, forgetting that he had gelled it before work.

“Just, forget it,” he said as they climbed up the stage, saxophonist bowing and passing between them on his way down the stairs.

When the beginning notes of _I Fall in Love Too Easily_ began under Donghyuck’s skilled fingers, Taeil just sighed before lifting the microphone, hoping to forget the mess of his love life while he put his all into the song.

\--

“Donghyuck said I should get to know him,” Taeil complained as he ate his sandwich at lunch the next day.

“Who?” Yuta asked around bites of his salad.

“My stalker,” Taeil replied. “Who else?”

“Ah yes, your stalker,” Yuta said, side-eyeing his friend.

“Come on,” Taeil said, punching him lightly in the arm. “Why does no one seem to think that this is actually a very serious thing? He’s found me at both of my jobs, stalked me in the store, and knows information about me that I’ve certainly never told him.”

Yuta sighed and turned his body to actually look his friend in the eyes.

“Look,” he said, “I don’t think it’s that serious because I run into randos all the time at the store, people I’ve slept with once, friends of friends, people like that. We acknowledge each other then move on until the next time that I see them. The Beanery is a popular coffee shop, people enjoy jazz music, and everyone needs to go food shopping.” Taeil opened his mouth to interject, but Yuta forged on. “If you think it’s a serious problem, then go to the police. I haven’t even seen the guy, so I can’t judge if you’re safe or not.”

Taeil sighed and shook his head. “I don’t think it’s serious enough to go to the police.”

“You really need a break, my friend,” Yuta said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Did you get the time off for our little get together in a couple weeks?”

“Yeah, thankfully,” Taeil said, dropping his head back to lean against the bench. “I’m excited to just sleep and drink all weekend.”

“Me too,” Yuta said. “Besides, it’s been a while since we’ve all gathered together. I feel like I haven’t seen Doyoung in months, ever since he got that new job.”

“Same,” Taeil said, “Maybe since Taeyong’s house-warming party? I don’t even remember how long ago that was.”

“I’m not surprised,” Yuta said, laughing. “You almost drank him into poverty. That was a wild night.”

“I don’t remember much, but I remember having fun,” Taeil said. “Hopefully our mini-vacation will be the same.”

“You know it,” Yuta exclaimed, holding his hand out for a fist bump. Taeil complied.

\-- 

The two weeks between when Taeil saw Jungwoo stalking him at the jazz bar and the get-together with his friends passed uneventfully. Taeil didn’t run into Jungwoo again, but was ready to take a break from working and excited to see his friends. Most of their group worked on Fridays, so they were going to head to the rented house after work. Taeil decided to take the entire day off, needing some personal time before a whole weekend spent with a noisy group of people.

Not having a car was usually fine in the city, as traffic was always busy no matter the time of the day, but it made it impossible to travel anywhere outside of the city. Taeil didn’t want to spend money on renting a car, especially for a whole weekend, so he bought a bus ticket instead, which would get him there several hours before any of his friends would be able to make the trip.

The house was dark when Taeil entered, but even a few steps in the door, he could tell that it was huge. There were stairs leading up to what Taeil assumed were the bedrooms. He went around the first floor, turning on some of the lights before heading up the stairs. There were three bedrooms, so Taeil found one that looked comfortable, threw his bag on the bed, and went to take a shower in order to pass the time.

After his shower, Taeil put on a bathrobe, and meandered down the stairs, hoping to cook something small that would be ready when his friends arrived. He wasn’t a great cook, but he had been living alone for long enough to put together something at least edible. Doyoung or Taeyong could cook something better if they wanted to when they arrived.

As he rounded the corner to the kitchen, he heard some humming and the clanking of pans, indicating that someone else had arrived while he was busy upstairs.

“Hey,” Taeil said as he entered the kitchen, but immediately trailed off when he noticed who was at the stove.

“What the fuck?” he yelled, making the man spin around to stare at him.

“Hey, Taeil!” Jungwoo said, giving him a wide smile. “The food isn’t ready yet, but if you want, I have some snacks on the counter over there,” he gestured with the spatula he was holding. Taeil’s gaze didn’t move from where he was staring, eyes boring into Jungwoo’s. Jungwoo’s smile dropped.

“No, seriously, what the fuck Jungwoo,” Taeil yelled. “You need to stop. I never appreciated you stalking me in the city, but even following me out here?”

“I… don’t understand,” Jungwoo said, voice quiet as his lip quivered. He was still staring at Taeil, though, which pissed him off.

“You think I didn’t notice?” Taeil asked. “You’ve followed me to the store, to my work, why can’t you get it through your head that I don’t like you and never want to see you again?”

Sometime during his speech, Jungwoo had started crying, tears dripping from his eyes. After Taeil had finished yelling, his chest heaving in exertion, Jungwoo sunk to the floor, still holding the spatula, and started sobbing.

“That’s just great,” Taeil said, sneering down at Jungwoo. “You stalk me for who knows how long, and when I finally confront you, you’re the one getting upset? You’re lucky I didn’t press charges.”

Jungwoo heaved a breath, choking on his tears. “No… Taeil… I don’t understand… I just…” he trailed off in a sob, clutching his chest as he tried to breathe.

“What the hell, Taeil?” a voice asked from behind him. Taeil turned around to see Yuta glaring at him, his arm reaching out to grab his shoulder. Doyoung was not too far behind Yuta, and when he saw Jungwoo on the floor, he pushed past Taeil, and gathered him into his arms, patting his back and making shushing noises.

“Taeil,” Yuta said, voice low as he gripped his shoulder hard. “What did you do to Jungwoo?”

Taeil barked out a short laugh. “What did I do? That’s funny when he’s been stalking me for months and apparently knows all my friends.”

“Oh,” Yuta said, releasing Taeil’s shoulder. “Oh shit, okay. Taeil, he’s not stalking you.”

“What?” Taeil asked, thrown completely off guard.

“I think I know what’s going on,” Yuta said as he brought his hand up to rub at his temple. “Doyoung,” he said, turning to their friend who was still rubbing Jungwoo’s back. “Can you calm him down and maybe clean up in a different room? I need to have a talk with my best friend.”

“Yeah, sure,” Doyoung said, hoisting Jungwoo up so they could stand together. Doyoung gave them both a wry smile as they passed to enter the living room before he began murmuring in Jungwoo’s ear.

“What’s going on, Yuta?” Taeil asked as he stared at his friend rubbing his forehead.

“So, remember when we had that talk when you first though Jungwoo was stalking you? That he mentioned you looking better than the last time you saw him?”

“I’m not sure how you remember that when I barely do,” Taeil said. “You tend to forget information not directly related to you.”

“Haha, very funny,” Yuta said. “But you two have definitely met before.”

“When?” Taeil asked.

“At Taeyong’s house-warming party.”

“That…” Taeil trailed off, “makes sense.”

Taeyong’s house-warming party was a mess that Taeil barely remembered. He had the next day off of work, was super stressed after a phone call with his mom, and hadn’t seen his friends in a long time. All of those factors combined meant that Taeil drunk his weight in alcohol. He usually doesn’t over-indulge, but when he does, he tends to forget what happens.

“We didn’t… sleep together, did we?” Taeil asked, afraid of the answer.

“No, don’t worry about that,” Yuta said. “Just talked to each other for a couple hours. Jungwoo was really happy to meet another friend, especially my best friend. He talked about you and kept asking about you for several weeks after the party, but eventually stopped.”

“How do you even know him?” Taeil asked. “I’ve never heard anyone mention him before!”

Yuta rolled his eyes at him. “Seriously, dude? I get that you’re always stuck in your head, but I have definitely mentioned him before. We’ve lived together for like six months already!”

“Excuse me?” Taeil asked, shocked at the information. “You definitely never told me that! I think I would remember.”

“You didn’t even remember that Jaehyun moved out!” Yuta said. “I am positive I told you that. You’re just so oblivious to the word around you sometimes.”

Taeil rubbed a hand across his face, not wanting to be lectured by his best friend in that moment, especially when he knew he had fucked up majorly.

“Can you just… tell me how I’m supposed to fix this?” Taeil asked, not looking at Yuta. “I know I messed up, but I think after yelling at him until he broke down, he will probably never want to look at me again. And now knowing he’s your roommate, that could cause a lot of problems.”

Yuta scoffed. “Jungwoo’s literally the nicest person ever, he’s just emotional. I see him crying nearly once a week over various things. Sometimes it’s about school, other times it’s while he’s watching anime. And besides, you have the whole weekend together to figure it out,” Yuta said, suddenly smirking and letting out a bark of a laugh. “This weekend suddenly became 20 times more entertaining.”

Taeil punched him in the upper arm. “Yeah yeah, I get it. You love watching my suffer.”

“Perpetually,” Yuta said, grabbing Taeil’s hand and pulling him into the other room. “Now come on, you need to apologize.”

Taeil let himself be pulled, shuffling his feet as they moved ever closer to a confrontation he did not want to have.

Jungwoo sat on the couch, Doyoung’s arms around his shoulders. His face was blotchy and his eyes were rimmed red, but at least he wasn’t crying anymore. Doyoung looked up when they approached, glaring at Taeil, his eyes fiercer than any other time Taeil had seen them focused on him.

“Hi, Jungwoo,” Taeil said softly as he sat at a chair across from the seated pair. “Can we talk? I… need to apologize.”

Jungwoo shrugged his shoulders, not even looking up from where his gaze was fixed on the floor.

“Do you want me to stay?” Doyoung asked him quietly, though Taeil still heard him. Jungwoo shrugged again then shook his head. Doyoung gave him one more sharp look before standing up, giving a soft caress to Jungwoo’s hair as he beckoned Yuta to follow him.

There was an uncomfortable silence for several minutes before Taeil cleared his throat, leaning forward in his chair.

“Um, Jungwoo, I’m sorry for yelling at you in the kitchen earlier. I… you see… Yuta told me that we’ve met before. At Taeyong’s party. I don’t really remember anything from the party, I drank quite a bit in order to forget some of the things going on in my life, yeah you don’t need to know all of that, but what it comes down to is… I don’t remember ever talking to you, and when we met outside of the party, at my work and the store, you kept mentioning things about me that I thought I never told you and I got really creeped out.”

He paused for a breath, looking up at Jungwoo for the first time since he started his tirade and was surprised to see him looking so intently into his eyes, a hand up to cover his mouth. He hadn’t started crying again though, which Taeil was grateful for.

“So yeah, I thought you were stalking me?” Taeil said, voice cracking a little in his word-vomit nervousness. “I know you weren’t now, but… it seemed like you were at the time. So… sorry for yelling at you in the kitchen. And for making you cry.”

There was another moment of silence as the two stared at each other.

“You talked to me,” Jungwoo said quietly.

“Huh?” Taeil asked, not understanding the direction of the statement.

“At your work, the jazz club, you approached me first and talked to me,” Jungwoo said. “That wasn’t me starting that conversation, that was all you.”

“That’s… correct” Taeil realized, scrubbing a hand through his hair.

“Why?” Jungwoo asked. “If you thought I was stalking you, why would you approach me first?”

Taeil paused, unsure of how to answer, or if he even had an answer.

“I guess, because even through all of the confusion, I wanted to know more. Understand why you were there, and who you were,” Taeil said. “To be honest, you stalking me was one of the more interesting, if scary, things to happen to me recently. I guess I approached you out of curiosity.”

There were a few more moments of silence.

“Okay,” Jungwoo said, nodding his head.

“Okay?”

“Yeah, okay. I accept your apology,” Jungwoo said, letting a small smile appear on his face. “Let’s start over. My name is Kim Jungwoo, what’s your name?”

“I’m Moon Taeil,” he said standing up as he put his hand out, smile wide across his face in relief. It got wider when Jungwoo shook his hand, smile growing on his own face.

“Can we come in now?” a voice asked as the door to the cabin opened. Taeyong stepped inside, followed by Jaehyun and a shy looking Mark, who took Taeil several moments to recognize.

“Yeah, I think they’re done,” Doyoung’s voice said. He and Yuta must not have moved as far away as Taeil thought.

As chaos descended upon the cabin with the arrival of their friends, getting even louder when Ten and Johnny entered a few minutes later, Taeil quietly grabbed at Jungwoo’s arm before they joined in.

“Hey, Jungwoo,” Taeil said lowly. “I promise, this time, I’ll remember every single moment we spend together.”

He smirked at the wide-eyed look that appeared on Jungwoo’s face and sauntered off as smooth as possible to join their friends.

\-- 

Epilogue:

“And starting next week, I’ll be able to follow the director around,” Jungwoo said, caressing Taeil’s hair from where he laid on Jungwoo’s lap. “I’ll probably get to help with an embalming after a few weeks of observation. I can’t wait to start my apprenticeship!”

Taeil just smiled up at his boyfriend, already used to the frank way he approached talking about his studies after dating for five months.

“I’m sure you’ll do great,” Taeil said, truly believing his words after seeing his boyfriend’s intense study habits the past few months.

They heard the cling of keys as the door to the apartment opened, Yuta walking in and groaning as soon as he saw them on the couch.

“Seriously?” he asked, noticing their position. “I was planning on watching anime on the TV tonight, but you guys are taking up all the space on the couch.”

“And I’ll counter that by saying that I’ve told you 100 times to just buy more furniture,” Taeil said, not moving from his position as he smiled at his friend. “You have more than enough money for a chair or even another sofa.”

“You know,” Yuta said as he came over to the couch, tickling the bottoms of Taeil’s feet so his legs would move and he could sit down, “I didn’t think that I would ever need one considering Jungwoo used to study outside all the time and you never came to visit. Now that you’re dating, though, you two are here just as often as I am.”

“Well, we didn’t have any plans,” Jungwoo said. “We can just watch something together.”

Taeil groaned and was quickly hit by both of the people on the couch.

“You’re dating me and have been best friends with Yuta for how long and you’re still pretending you don’t like anime?” Jungwoo asked, poking at his stomach where he knows Taeil is ticklish.

“Well, I want to finish Sarazanmai,” Yuta said as he turned on the TV.

“No way,” Jungwoo argued, “I don’t understand what’s going on in that show. Let’s watch Dororo instead.”

As the two continued their argument, Taeil sat up and went to the kitchen to get some snacks, both Yuta and Jungwoo seemingly unaware that he had moved. He didn’t know how they had decided on watching One-Punch Man, but it was already playing when he got back, and he settled in to the back of the couch, arm around his boyfriend and feeling happier than he had in a long time.

**Author's Note:**

> So, this was my first foray into writing nct fics. My sisters both chose a member and sent it to me, and I was supposed to write a story with those characters. I think it turned out pretty well. If you enjoyed reading, please leave a comment, or you can find me on twitter at [jaejaetaek](https://twitter.com/jaejaetaek) .


End file.
